Chapter 66: Encountering the Akatsuki Duo!
After a night's rest, Kakashi led Uchiha Ren around the main gate of the Land of Lightning, choosing to leave the city through the west gate.
After half a day of trekking over mountains and ridges, the two finally arrived at the border between the mountains and the forest.
Uchiha Ren crunched on coffee beans, as he hacked through the overgrown grass, which was taller than him, with a kunai. "This journey really hasn't been easy. I never thought we'd run into Orochimaru."
Kakashi yawned, looking as if he hadn't woken up yet. "Orochimaru's obsession with the Sharingan far surpasses the village's judgment of him. It seems that any Uchiha ninja who has awakened their eyes will have to be extra careful on missions from now on."
Speaking of which, Uchiha Ren felt the urge to complain.
Orochimaru was like this largely because of Itachi.
Itachi and Orochimaru's first meeting hadn't been in the Akatsuki.
Back in the Anbu, when Itachi first showed his prodigious talent, Orochimaru had already set his sights on him.
But coming back to the present, everything he had encountered was inextricably linked to that guy, Itachi.
"Kakashi-sensei, I've developed some personal insights into controlling Genjutsu. When I gather Chakra into my eyes, I feel..."
Before Uchiha Ren could finish his sentence, Kakashi's expression suddenly turned grim.
He looked towards a patch of grass in the distance and threw two shuriken.
*Clang clang!*
Sparks flew. There was indeed someone in the grass!
"Not bad, not bad at all!"
As the voice fell, a brutish man carrying a large sword leaped out from the grass.
With just one look, both Kakashi and Uchiha Ren were alarmed.
A black cloak with red clouds.
A member of the legendary Akatsuki?!
But...
Uchiha Ren frowned.
Why had he never seen this person before?
In over seven hundred episodes of Naruto, was there ever such a character?
The next figure to appear, however, made Uchiha Ren instantly activate his Sharingan!
Green eyes, a headscarf, a Takigakure rogue-ninja headband, and a mask just like Kakashi's...
The newcomer was none other than the Akatsuki's treasurer, the man who claimed to be as old as heaven and earth, the living fossil of the ninja world—Kakuzu!
Kakuzu?!
Uchiha Ren's hands instantly formed hand seals, ready to use a Substitution Jutsu at any moment.
He didn't take that tall tale about Kakuzu throwing a shuriken at Hashirama Senju from a hundred li away seriously.
At this point in time, Kakuzu's strength was such that among the jounin of the Leaf Village, only Guy could possibly defeat him in a one-on-one fight. The others wouldn't stand a chance.
The Kakashi from the Shippuden arc, who could already use Obito's eye to cast Kamui, still couldn't defeat Kakuzu even with the help of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
If Yamato hadn't arrived with Naruto, who had just learned the Wind Release: Shuriken Rasengan, along with Sakura and Sai of the new Team 7, to provide backup...
Kakashi and the Ino-Shika-Cho duo would have very likely had their hearts ripped out by Kakuzu.
"I never thought I'd run into the famous Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi, in a place like this."
The brutish man beside Kakuzu spoke in a loud voice. He slung his large sword over his shoulder and pointed at Kakashi with one hand. "Hey, Leaf Village ninja, what are you two doing here? Hurry up and hand over your intel, and the whereabouts of the Nine-Tails!"
Uchiha Ren's eye twitched. He knew who this person was.
He was an Akatsuki member who appeared only once in the original story, his name unknown, a cannon fodder character who was personally killed by Kakuzu.
For these two to appear near the Land of Lightning, there were basically two reasons.
Either Kakuzu was on a bounty mission.
Or the tailed beast capture mission had already begun.
But no matter which it was, the situation was extremely dangerous for Uchiha Ren and Kakashi.
"Hey, Ren," Kakashi's voice spoke beside Uchiha Ren, "run with all your might. If these two chase us and we can't shake them, you deal with the one wearing the mask who isn't talking."
Uchiha Ren's expression froze. He pointed to his own face. "Huh? Who are you talking about? Me, deal with him???"
Before Uchiha Ren could finish his complaint, the brutish man charged forward, shouting!
"Kakashi has a bounty on his head, and the brat next to him is an Uchiha. Let's get them both!"
*Boom!*
The large sword sent Uchiha Ren and Kakashi staggering back. Kakashi immediately began forming hand seals without a second thought, while Uchiha Ren wasted no time and turned to flee.
He had only taken two steps when he suddenly felt the sound of something tearing through the air behind him. His nerves tensed, and his Sharingan activated fully.
Under the effect of the Sharingan, his vision became exceptionally clear, and time itself seemed to slow down. He could precisely track the trajectory of several shuriken flying toward him.
Without a shred of hesitation, he drew several shuriken from the pouch at his waist, flicked his wrist, and sent them flying.
These shuriken flew like arrows released from a bow, aimed straight for the shuriken Kakuzu had thrown.
*Clang, clang, clang, clang!* Sparks flew everywhere, the sound of metal colliding echoing through the forest.
Uchiha Ren's shuriken met Kakuzu's in mid-air, striking them with unerring accuracy and altering their respective flight paths.
These shuriken ended up embedded in nearby tree trunks and the dirt, some deeply lodged in the wood, others half-buried in the ground.
Kakuzu hadn't expected to fail at instantly killing a child. Anger ignited within him. He formed hand seals and spat a breath of fire at Uchiha Ren. "Fire Release: Searing Migraine!"
The killing power of this jutsu far surpassed the Great Fireball, and Kakuzu had no intention of using a cannon to shoot a fly.
The range of his jutsu covered more than just Uchiha Ren.
It blasted toward Kakashi and the brutish man as well!
A smile appeared on Kakuzu's face.
Kakashi had a bounty on his head. Didn't the brutish man also have a bounty on his head?
The only difference was where you went to exchange it for cash.
Faced with the high-damage Fire Release jutsu from Kakuzu, the Sharingan in Uchiha Ren's eyes spun rapidly. His body reacted on instinct!
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!" Uchiha Ren cried out in a low voice. His Chakra rapidly gathered, and the moisture from the surrounding air was quickly drawn in, forming four thick pillars of water.
These water pillars rose around him, forming a solid barrier that completely enclosed him.
The flames of Searing Migraine rolled in like a monstrous tidal wave, the high temperature nearly igniting the surrounding air.
However, when the flames made contact with Uchiha Ren's Water Formation Wall, the water pillars instantly evaporated with a hissing sound. A large amount of steam billowed out, creating a layer of white mist.
The Water Formation Wall successfully withstood the high heat of Searing Migraine, protecting Uchiha Ren from the flames.
Meanwhile, the brutish man on the other side wasn't so lucky.
He never expected to be ambushed by his own partner from behind. The flames engulfed him in an instant. He screamed and thrashed within the fire, his voice filled with agony.
Almost at the same moment Kakuzu released Searing Migraine, Kakashi also quickly formed hand seals and cast his own Water Formation Wall, blocking the flames.
"Ren! Run! I'll hold him off!"
Realizing that the masked man behind them was the real threat, Kakashi didn't hesitate and quickly yelled for Uchiha Ren to flee.
'Run?'
A moment of hesitation flashed across Uchiha Ren's face.
But that hesitation was severed the instant his feathered wings and tailed wings burst from his body.
"I, Ren, will never abandon a teammate to save my own skin!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
(end of chapter)